Category Archives: Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Playing Left Handed

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I took up the right handed acoustic guitar when I was twelve and played mainly folk through elementary and high school graduating to simple three chord songs rock on an cheap beginner electric.

My chording was never accurate and often misplayed.  So I lost interest.  After retirement I wondered, given I was actually left handed what would happen if I tried a left handed guitar.

Back to Square One

To my surprise my right hand knew no chords.  However, not surprisingly, like riding a bicycle, if I turned the guitar upside down I easily found the chord position and I  could change chords smoothly (albeit without strumming as the strings were upside down).

Searching the internet for some basic training I stumbled on the well known and acclaimed Justin guitar training website packed with useful videos.

Most interesting though was the fact Justin, a life long right handed performer and teacher had decided a couple of years ago to use his own beginners course to teach himself  left handed guitar.

It was a treat for me to see him having the same problems I had and in fact he needed to relearn his chording and changes from the beginning.  This validated what I was experiencing, yes, I needed to start over and train my hands.

Handedness Matters

While my journey playing guitar has really begun anew the good news is my chording and strumming and picking, once relearned, is far better than it ever was.

I am a left hander and although I was guided (forced) to play right handed for years my body and brain really did not want to.

I suspect I will never be a great player but for now anyway I am getting much more personal satisfaction from the experience.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Celebrate

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July 1st is the Canadian government sanctioned day to acknowledge the significant event, the founding of the country of Canada.   This is a designated statutory holiday and we are encouraged to participate in a social gathering or enjoyable activity to celebrate.

Specifically Canada was founded on July 1st 1867 through the passing of the constitution act.  There were three founding provinces.  Over the years since then the country has grown to encompass 10 provinces and three territories.

Reason to Celebrate

The history of Canada includes mistakes that have led to moments of sadness and sorrow, some of which are very much in the news of late (i.e., residential schools for indigenous peoples.)

Conversely, along with the negative moments the countries history includes much to celebrate.  Those living here since 1867 have, as a whole, contributed to developing a robust and vibrant culture which is recognized internationally by independent analysis.

It is this combination of positive and negative events that combine to make Canada the fabulous multi- cultural country it has become and this is a reason to celebrate and be thank-full for our founders strategic action all those years ago.

Co-existance

Respect for others is built into our constitutional framework and for me the highlight of being Canadian is the way the basic foundation of our country supports and encourages us to behave in ways to fully recognize that everyone is important.

While it may be true that in the past 154 years our collective deportment does not always appear to this basic principle, our greatest achievement is often the ability to recognize this and work to remedy it when needed.

So on this 154 anniversary of the founding of Canada I am proud to be living in this country, to all living here today and past residents I wish you a happy Canada day.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Canadian Old Age Security (OAS) Clawback Clarification

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The Canadian  Old Age Security (OAS) pension is a monthly payment you can get if you are Canadian or a legal resident for at least 20 years beginning at age  65 and older.

If you have a net income greater than $79,045 (in 2020 this changes every year) some or if your net income is more than $129,600, all your payments are clawed back.

Simple Rules, Complex Implementation

What makes this a worthy blog topic for me is the how the government manages the clawback provisions.  I was unable to find a clear and simple full explanation of the process and in fact even the Governments site on the topic is unclear.

The problem stems from the fact many recipients will be subject to a  monthly recovery tax (really akin to a withholding tax) even though they will have no clawback.

The confusion stems from the timing of how the recovery tax is calculated versus the timing of the actual clawback determination (i.e., whether any amounts need to be paid back.)

Clawback Determination

Annually as part of the Canadian income tax submission those receiving OAS calculate, based on their actual net income for the reported year, whether any OAS payments they received are subject to be retuned to the government.

The tax return includes a formula for this calculation and includes amounts due (or refund if applicable – see the recovery tax section for details)

Recovery Tax Implementation

The communication of how the recovery tax can be avoided is where my complaint lies.  Granted the communication of how it is calculated is relatively straightforward.

Simply put, the net income reported on your return one or two years before the year you begin receiving the benefit is used to determine if you are eligible for recovery tax.  For many this means the government will implement the tax.

And here is the Rub

Often your net income in the years before you retire is higher than in retirement (i.e., the year you start OAS) so this calculation leads to  a recovery tax being charged, which you will get as a refund when you complete your tax return .

For me the paying of this  unnecessary withholding  tax, which happens virtually automatically,  without explaining clearly that it can be avoided by submitting a request form to the CRA is dirty pool.  But what do I expect from the government.  Yuck.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

The origin of life

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Where did humans come from?  Created by god is one persistent answer to this question believed to be postulated in different forms by multiple races and cultures since the beginning of humanity.

More recent records propose a let omnipotent solution, that of black holes and natural evolution.  That is not a grand design but rather a happenstance occurrence.

Missing Motive

Whether you accept the creationist or evolutionist answer to explain the mystery of life, or even both in some combination, these solutions lack a definitive conclusion of the most important element of any mystery.  That is motive.

The reason for the existence of the universe remains hidden to me, although we can, and do, rationalize how the universe began the story is supported only by speculation as to motive.

Love is the Answer

One of my favourite underlying explanations as to the motive for building a universe is from the oft expressed creationist view that god was motivated by his love.

Being all alone is tough so god created the universe to allow for development of a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure.

Love without Hate

Love cannot exist without hate and if love was the motivation for creation unfortunately time has shown it cannot, and does not, exist without hate.

I question whether an omnipotent being  would not have know this and so purposely was driven to create something complex to stave off the boredom and loneliness of just being without anything constructive and defined ((i.e., an universe).

The search for Answers continues

Or perhaps the answer lies in the accident of evolution.  The mental pursuit of motivation continues until the story ends and perhaps even then we will not have a satisfying answer.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Intransigent

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Sometime when we are having a debate or trying to persuade someone to adopt our perspective we may find them unwilling or refusing to change their  views or to agree about something.

Or this intransigent behaviour could apply to ourselves, that is we might not be willing to compromise and  obstinately maintain our superior attitude.

Everyone is Important

For me, the best way to avoid being intransigent is to remind myself that embracing diversity of background and opinions is extremely powerful and effective.   Being obstinate can shut down rapport  very quickly, it is really the opposite of embracing others ideas.

This does not mean the thoughts and ideas of others take precedence over yours, although they might, but rather makes sure you treat others perspectives as important without summarily shutting them down.

For Example

I recently had an interesting discussion about my recent blog on the value and need to get vaccinated for covid to create a situation which eradicates spread of the disease.

At first my position was absolute brooking no argument until my obstinate behaviour became obvious to me.  I realized it was not necessary for me to agree or support the view of others (yes there are people who question the value of the virus) .

Assessing the information to date, both for vacinnes and against, Albeit how well articulated the detractors may be I find myself firmly pro-vaccine but much as I would like to simply dismiss the detractors this is no where near as powerful as continuing to work to persuade them of the correctness of my position.

 

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Vaccine Hesitancy

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I am very puzzled by those who are not taking advantage of the covid 19 vaccines which are not readily availavble in most places around the globe, certainly this is the case in U.S. and Canada.

Vaccines have been proven to work.  Some examples of diseases virtually eradicated by vaccines are; polio, tetanus, hepatitis B,  Rubella, Measles, Whooping Cough.  The full list is much more extensive.

Herd Immunity

Interestingly, protecting ourselves from deadly communicable diseases requires co-operation.  We must all gain immunity (or at least 90%) to eradicate the disease or at least reduce its impact to manageable levels.

We lve in a scientifically enlightened era for which historical proof of the effectiveness of vaccines is absolute.  Simply put, diseases with vaccines were once endemic but are no longer so.

The examples of deadly disease eliminations are objectively measurable, known past pandemics which have been eliminated are well documented.

Group Think

Vaccination is a case where group think is required.  In this case creativity or individual responsibility is not needed.  Acceptance of reality and active participation is the order of the day.

Sadly some believe vaccination against covid is a sales pitch or even worse a conspiracy.   For me thinking this way is both somewhat delusional but sadly it is impactful on others.

Choosing not to get vaccination allows for a transmission vector to continue to exist.  Thus enough people will ontinue to get sick to impact everyone.

It Works

Does vaccination work against covid?  In England, for which the population is 73% vaccinated,  the number of new daily cases dropped from around 63,000 in January to less than 500.

Given this did not occur until vaccination was underway in earnest the conclusion seems pretty straightforward to me.  So don’t delay, get vaccinated now.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Satisfaction Guaranteed

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Does the fulfillment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs and the associated pleasure you derive from achieving what you seek depend on other people and events?

That is, are you able to personally guarantee living a satisfying life?  Is satisfaction within your control or is it dictated by others?  The simple answer is you have absolute control, unfortunately though it is probably a bit more complex.

Freedom to Interpret

No doubt your own thoughts and perceptions are influenced by external factors like the behaviour of others and events outside your control like the weather.

How you view the impact of those external factors can be completely within your conscious thinking abilities to decide.  Are the external occurrences satisfying and what can be done to make them satisfactory?   The answer, your reaction, is yours to control?

Fulfillment

Simply deciding your life events are fulfilling does not make it so.  This probably seems like an unrealistic approach, after all shit  does happen and pretending it does not is a bit myopic.

Well it is true our lives are varied and full of happenings outside our direct prevue, some things distasteful and unsatisfying to us, when taken as a whole can be perceived in a way satisfactory to ourselves.  It is a personal choice.

Two Worlds

In 1968 the band Sweetwater released a song titled “Two Worlds” which highlighted for me some of the thoughts expressed here.

The chorus lines “I can’t stop livin, I never get tired” epitomize the   positive attitude, that when undertake,  guarantees  a full and satisfying life.   It is your choice.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Ransomeware

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Among many other things my home network has two network access storage devices (NAS) made by QNAP ( Taiwanese company).  These boxes run the QTS operating system (a linux variant).

They are inexpensive and hugely multi-functional with leading edge storage and media management functions together with virtual machine capability among many other things (like Kodi capable)

 Danger Will Robinson

One of my favourite and most endearing characters is Robbie the robot from the mid-sixties TV series lost in space.  Whenever his young charge behaved without fear, as 12 year olds will do, Robbie would pipe-up “Danger, danger Will Robinson.

I am not 12 but my enthusiasm for exploring technology without fear can lead me into dangerous situations as it did young Will Robinson. For me, Robbie’s warning are best ignored just as Will did.

Spoilsport

While I enjoy exploring emerging technology as a hobby, for me it is not about economic gain or even permanency, basically in the moment I may develop something just because I can.  I enjoy the challenge in the moment.

Hackers are the bane of my existence as they can spoil everything by   interrupting my complacency and shocking me back to the real world.

Leave me Be

Over the years I have met with many different attacks from machine takeover to attempting data theft.   On April 23rd I was subject to encrypted archiving of the data stored on my NAS devices.

Not sure how it occurred because I don’t download to these devices and I am running pretty sophisticated malware detector which did flag and remove the malware, just too late I guess.

Of course the hacker made a kind offer to let me purchase the encryption key for bitcoin (not sure how much).

I suspect the malware was embedded in a QNAP media application with an auto update, I think they fixed it but unfortunately too late for me.

Ah well, those annoying thieves won’t be getting any bitcoin from me.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Understanding Service

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Helping others, providing advice, resources or undertaking requested action so others can achieve their goals are the most common activities of service organizations.

Service can be provided by sections or departments of large organizations focusing solely on the provision of service to a target audience, often called customers, or just individuals for the pleasure of helping others.

Expectations

I am often surprised by those providing service to me.  They tend to either guide me to conform with their practices or even taking  action without first taking time to understand my expectations.

Anticipating the needs of your customer rather than concentrating on their expectations leads to dissatisfaction more often than not. This happens when the goal of the service provider is to meet their organizational expectations versus what the customer is expecting.

Focus on Understanding

Regardless of the situational context, before providing any service, the priority should always be to determine what the requestor is expecting of you.

Assuming what is required might be expedient and could hit the target occasionally but more often it can lead down a path of confusion even frustration both by the service provider and the receiver.

Perception Matters

The customer might perceive the person they have contacted can assist them because of their own assumptions about what a specific area, contact or knowledge source is capable of.

The best way to start a service interaction is to clarify what is beIng expected first, that is not what the requestor wants but rather the outcome they are seeking.

Granted these are related but the distinction can be critical to ensure the service is appropriately target.  Time spent up front to ensure the request is understood is a great way to avoid disappointment.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Keep on Dreaming

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As a reader pointed out to me, yesterday’s post contemplated just one of a plethora of explanations of dreams.  Two of the more accepted explanations being those of psychiatrists Freud and Jung.

Very simply summarized, Freud proposes dreams as being a subconscious expression of how we wished things had gone in reality.  Jung suggested dreams represent teaching archetypes that have things to teach us about our present circumstances.

Stretch Your Imagination

The discussion of dreams and the possibilities they represent led me to stretch my thinking on the topic beyond the limited suggestions restricted by the boundaries of life as we perceive it.

I wonder about a science fiction explanation, maybe actual more fantasy as I am not sure of the science part.  What if dreams were invented by a far superior intellect to ours as an experiment.

Fact or Fiction

It is possible others have had this idea first but I have not yet found any literature about it although some similar concepts, (e.g., superior races invented human kind) are prevalent in science fiction.

Perhaps dreams were developed as a research exercise in the laboratory and got out of hand, escaped the confines of experimentation and became an all consuming reality overcoming the base existance of the creators.  An experiment gone wrong.

Living Your Dreams

I can imagine living is a dream created by my forebears as an accidental outcome of intellectual research.  In this explanation dreams were developed as an opportunity for improvement of current reality.

In this reality  I would modify Sarte’s explanation of existence to “I dream, therefore I am”.